Machine for forming the interior of plastic materials.



No. 7I6,343. Patented Dec. I6, I902.

F. M. LOCKE.

MACHINE FOR FORMING THE INTERIOR 0F PLASTIC MATERIALS.

(Application filed May 8, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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MACHINE FOR FORMING THE lNTERlOR F PLASTIC MATERIALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 716,343, dated December 16, 1902.

' Application filed May 8, 1901.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED M. LOCKE, of Victor, in the county of Ontario, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Imshape by judicious handling.

rents; otherwise the insulator is of but very little, if of any, value.

In the manufacture of porcelain insulators two processes or methods are known and used. One is known as the dry process, and which consists in mixing the dust with just moisture enough to allow the material after it has been subjected to high pressure to hold its The other method is known asithe wet process, and consists in mixing the material with sufficient water to make it plastic. By the dry process I am able to make an article, of almost any form desirable; but the body is not homogeneous throughout, owing to the fact that one portion of t e body will be pressed ,more than another an the further reason that no amount of press'ure will compress the particles in this semidry state as closely together as they originally were in the natural state or as closely together as if they were compressed in a plastic condition.

Porcelain such as made'by the dry process is good for some purposes, but not very valuable for insulators which are required to conduct high voltage or even ordinary voltage, for the reason, as above set forth, the porcelain will not be dense orhomogeneous'enough, it remains too porous, and it is-easily punctured by the electric current.

Very dense porcelain can be manufactured by the wet process; but the difiiculty experienced in .the manufacture of insulators by the wet process is that where an interior SerialNo. 59,289. (No model.)

thread is required or where downwardly-extendingpetticoats are required to be formed it has been impossible to form this interior thread, petticoats, or contour without taking great pains and consuming much time by experienced workmen to withdraw the die so as to maintain a perfect thread and at the same time have it maintain a perfect position within the insulator, owing to the plastic condition of the material, which causes'the die to 'stick,-and this adds greatly to the expense of the manufactured article. I v have, -h0wever, found that all of these obstacles can be obviated in the wet process by first operating a heated die by rotation into the plastic material and out of it, and consequently by so constructing the die that as soon as it begins to withdraw air is admitted to the bottom of the die, and thereby prevents the vacuum which ordinarily causes the clay tostick to the die and deform the interior surface of the plastic material.

My object" therefore is to construct a machine by which I am able to give the insulator or other device manufactured of poreslain by a wet process the form of a thread or other form, as maybe required for the workin hand, and instantly withdraw the same without less of time and without the use of e2;- pensive help andwhich shall operate automatically and may be manipulated by cheap labor, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture.

To this end my invention consists in the several new and novel features of construction and operation which are hereinafter more fully described, and 'set forth in the claims hereunto annexed.

- In the accompanying drawings Ihave shown means forheating the dies and also for admitting air into the interior and beneath the die; but I do not limit myself to this particular-mechanism, as it will be evident that the die may be heated mechanically by a hot 'blast or by an electric current or bya steampipe or any other well-known means. It Will also be observed that the air may be admitted to the interior of the mold and beneath the die by means other than that shown herein.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a machine for carrying out the objects of my invention. Fig. 2 is an elevathe ribs 11.

ported in e suitable mold. J cs1 sectional view through tee tioncf the detached plunger 1G0; threads and pctticosts in atbody of materiel which is shown in section err-o stip- 3 s e vertithe sir-inlet valve in its nor-"ins tion. Fig. is detail sectional on line i 4-, Fig. 3.' 5 an inverted view of the die seen in 2 3;

Similar reference characters indicate corre sponding parts in sllthe views.

illustrating the operation or my invention have shown e frame '1, open which. is mounted it revolnble'spindle 2, connected to a cone 3, which is driven in reverse directionshy oppositely-arranged cones l- 5,. mounted on e'. driving-shaft 6 The fence 1 may be of any desired form or size and pro vided with e threaded bearing 7, which engauged by e thresded portion 8 of the spindle 2.. The lower end. oi this spindlefi is pro-. vided with s die 9 having ev threaded plan ger 10 end one or more concentric ribs 11 and 12, the plunger 10 serving to form the threaded portion of the insulator and the ribs 11 and 12 serving to form the petticoets of said insuletorc This die 9 is provided with sir passage 13, extending through the lower face of the threaded plunger 10, and is provided with a suitable valve 1 1-, nor-really closing the sir-passage and adapted to he opened astoinsticelly by section or otherwise at the heginnlng of the upward or return movement of the pliinger'irom the plastic material for the purpose of admitting to thethresded socket of the plastic materiel, thereby equalizing the pressure within said socket and permitting the plunger to be readily Withdrawn Without adhering to the materiel. The retery motionand teperof the threaded portion of the plunger serves to press the materiel into a compact homogeneous mess oi nniform density and produces a more perfect iosnletor then could be produced with e straight rotary plunger or by direct compression oi the materiel upon a fixed threaded plunger.

The valve 1 1 is held in its normal closed position by a spring 15, encircliogthe velvesfem 16 and interposed between the shoulder 17, provided on the plunger 9, and s shoulder 18, secured to the upper end of the valve-elem. This valve-stem 16 is guided in e circnlsr opening 19 and is preferably ofengnlsr crosssection, as seen in Fig. lor the stem may have a slotway in one side for the purpose of permitting the passage of sir to the lower enrface of the plunger 9. The upper portion of the die ,9 is also provided with s series of eirpassages 20, which are shown as elined with the spaces between the, ribs 11; but it is evident that these air-openings may be otherwise srrenged and that, if desired, other open ings may be formed in the die and elined with The outer rib 12 is provided with a series of spiral cu t-outs 21 for forming cutting-shoulders 22 end allow the superfluous clay to be thrown out, which serve to trim the vies-ts edges the plastic meterielsnd produce or smooth finished surface to the outer edge insuletor. This die is adopted to be rotated in reverse directions into and out of the body of the plastic materiel for forming the threads and other contonrs in said body. The means for eiifeoting this reverse movement into out of the plastic material conot the friction-cones 3, t, and 5 and the threaded portion 8 of the spihdle 2, the

threads 8 being of substantially the some I the cone is rotated in either direction, the

spindle 2 and die 9 are also correspondingly rotated in reverse directions. I

The cones 4 and 5 eresecured to the shaft 6 in such manner thet when one of the cones is engaged with the cone 3 the other is out of engagement therewith, the she-ft 6 being adopted to be moved endwise for forcing one or the other of the cones i and 5 into frictional engegementwith the cone 3,Wherebythe spindie 2 may be rotated in either direction. This endvvise movement of the cones 1- and 5 into and out of engagement with the cone 3 may he effected by any desired neechsnisrn,-here shovrnes consistingof e lever 25., pivoted to the-frame at 26 end having one end adapted "to engage a grooved collar 27 upon the shaft 6 and other end connected to a snitsble foot-lever or other shifting device 28, which is also pivoted on the frame and may be readily actuated by the operator for forcing one of the driving-cones 4 or 5 into engagement with the cone 3. This lever or pedal 28 is connected to the arm 25 in such manner that by depressing the pedal 28 the driving-cone 4- is forced into contact with the cone 3 for r0- tstlng the spindle 2, which simultaneously screws the plunger 10 into the plastic body.

One of the essential features of this inventicn is that the operation of the die 9 end plunger 10 into and out of the plastic meteriel is entirely automatic, it being desirable, and even necessary, that immediately upon the-formation of the threads and other contours in the plastic material the spindle 2will be automatically rotated in a reverse direction for Withdrawing said die from the mold. For this purpose I provide the lever 25 with an arm 29, projecting into the path of suitable collars 30, which are secured tothe spindle 2 in szich relation to the free end of the arm 29 that when the die reaches the limit of, its downward movement during its rotation in one direction the upper collsr 30 will auto meticellyengsge the arm. 29 and thereby force the other cone 5 into engagement with the cone 3 for reversing the direction of move- IO forcing the cone out of engagement with the cone 3and preventing further rotation of the spindle 2, a spring 37 being connected to the frame 1 and lever 25 for normally holding the arm 29 in engagement with the lower stop 30,

so that neither of the cones 4 or 5 canoperate the cone 3 until the pedal 28 is first depressed.

The driving-shaft 6 may be connected to any source of power, (not necessary to illustrate,) being provided with a pulley 3L and a belt 32 for this purpose.

Any desired means may beemployed for uniformly heating the die 9 or threaded portion 10 and its valve 14 during their rotation, and I have herein shown a ga's burner 35 as directing a flame 36 against thelower portion of the die. By thus heating and simultaneously rotating the parts which come in contact with the plastic material it is apparent that when said parts are forced into the plas- 0 tic material the heat radiating therefrom causes the adjacent surface of the plastic material to shrin k away from the same, and therefore prevents the adhesion of the plastic material to the die and permits the same to be readily withdrawn without injuring the threads or other contours formed in the plas-- tic material and at the same time makes a more homogeneous and compact insulator. It is evident, however, that any other means 40 may be employed for heating the die, either by steam, electricity, or hot air.

In the operation of myinvention the pedal 28 is first depressed, as seen in Fig. 1, to rock the lever 25 for forcing and holding the cone 5 4 in engagement with the cone 3 for rotating the spindle 2, and thereby screwing the die 9 and plunger 10 downwardly into the plastic material. Vhen the die has reached the limit of its downward movement sufiicient to form a perfect thread and the desired contour, the

upper collar 30 automatically engages the arm 29, thereby shifting the position of the.

sliaft and forcing the other cone 5 into engagement with the cone 3, which rotates the spindle in the reverse direction and at the same time screws the spindle upwardly for moving the plunger out of the plastic material and elevates the pedal, it being understood that if the pedal 28 were released at any time during the descent of the plunger when the lever-stop 30 is withdrawn from thearm 29 the spring 37 immediately draws the arm 25 inwardly and forces the cone 5 into engagement with the cone 3 to return the pl un- 5 ge to its normal position.

Although I have described the specific form of operatingmechanism for rotating the plundie at the same rate of speed, it will be evident that any other-equivalent means may be employed for this purpose. Therefore I do not limit myself to the precise construction and arrangement shown and described-as, for instance, thegears-ZS and 24 maybe dispensed with and the spindle 2 may be driven directly from the cones 4 and 5.

Havin'r. thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is i v l. A machine for forming the interior conton r in plastic material, consisting of a rotary tapering plunger having a valved inlet for the air adapted to be rotated into and out of the plastic material for the purpose of giving shape thereto, means for operating said plunger and means to heat the plunger as it moves into and out of thematerial.

2. A machine for forming the interior contour in plastic material, consisting-of a rotary plungerhavingavalved inletfor the airadapted to be'rotated into and out of the plastic material for the purpose of giving shape thereto, means for heating said plunger during its rotation and means for operating the same.

3. A machine for forming threads in plastic material consisting of a rotary threaded plunger having an air-inlet opening and adapted to bescrewed into and out of the plastic ma terial for forming threads therein, a normally closed valve for theopening, said valve being rotated with the plunger and automatically opened as the plunger is withdrawn from the plastic material, and means for heating the plunger.

4. A machine for forming threads in plastic material consisting of a threaded rotary plunger having 'a lengthwise air-passage and a normally closed valve for the passage adapted ger and moving the same into and out of the to rotate with the plunger, and mechanism for rotating the plunger in reverse directions and simultaneously screwing the same into and out of the plastic material for the purpose set forth and means for heating the plunger.

5. A screw-threaded spindle carrying a threaded tapering plunger having a valved inlet for the air therein, in combination with a threaded bearing engaged with the threadsof the spindle, and means for rotating the spindle in reverse directions and means to heat the plunger for the purpose set forth.

(3. A machine for forming threads in plastic material comprising athreaded bearing, a

threaded spindle screwing into thebearing and provided with a tapering plunger having threads of substantially the same pitch as the threads on the spindle, and means to rotate the spindle in reverse directions to screw the plunger into and out of the plastic material,

said plunger having an air-passage, a valve rotating with the plunger, and means to heat the valve and plunger.

7. A machine for forming the interior con- IIO tour in plastic material consisting ofa rotary former having an annular flange provided with grooves or cut-outs for permitting the discharge of the superfluous material during the rotation of the former, said former being.

ing rotary 'plunger'adapted to be rotated into and out of the plastic material to give shape thereto, said plunger having a valved inlet for the air therein, means for operating the plunger and additional means to heat the tapering portion of the plunger during its rotation.

10. A machine for forming threads in plastic material, consisting of a threaded tapering plunger adapted to be screwed into and out of the plastic material for forming threads therein, said plungerhaving a valved inlet for the air, and means to heat the plunger for the purpose set forth.

11. A machine for forming threads in plastic material consisting of a threaded tapering plunger having an air-inlet opening, a valve for the purpose described, means for screwing the plunger into and out of the plastic material to form threads therein, and additional means to heat the plunger.

12. A machine for forming the interior contour in plastiematerial, consisting of a rotary plunger adapted to be forced into and out of the plastic material and having an air-inlet opening, a valve for said opening rotating with the plunger and means to heat the plunger.

13. A machine for forming the interior contour in plastic material, consisting of a rotary plunger adapted to be forced into and out of the plastic material and having an air-passage, a valve for said passage rotating with the plunger, means to operate the plunger and additional means to heat the valve.

14.. A machine for forming the interior contour in plastic material, consisting of a plunger adapted to be rotated into and out of the plastic material and having an air-passage, a

valve for said passage, and means to heat the valve and plunger.

15. A machine for forming threads in plastic material consisting of a threaded tapering plunger adapted to be screwed into and out of the plastic material for forming threads therein, said plunger having an air-opening and a valve for the purpose described, and means to heat the valve.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day of May, 1901.

FRED M. LOOKE.

Witnesses:

F. E. COBB, W, A. HIGINBOTHAM. 

